MacTech Blog

Mobile payments made via NFC-enabled handsets will approach $240 billion in total value by 2021, according to a new Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com) forecast.

Increasing competition between mobile wallets from device vendors Apple and Samsung, payment card issuers, and mobile operators, combined with a maturing contactless payment infrastructure across most regions, will finally catalyze in-store handset-based NFC purchases, according to the research group. Furthermore, Strategy Analytics expects consumer readiness to adopt mobile payments to improve as providers of mobile wallets increasingly support coupons and loyalty cards.

The research group is encouraged by rising use of contactless payments over the past 12 months, particularly in cities like London where the acceptance of contactless payments has become nearly ubiquitous. Nitesh Patel, director, Strategy Analytics'...

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) forecasts that nearly 17 million hybrid and electric vehicles will be on the road by 2020, up from an estimated 12 million last year.

The research group believes that stakeholders primarily need to establish the viability and desirability of electric vehicles with consumers, and adopt an aggressive ‘go to market’ strategy that includes:

° The rolling out of a wide-scale public charging infrastructure – that is seen as both ongoing and committed.

The new research found that electric car manufacturers are prioritizing ‘range’ as the key issue. Original equipment manufacturers, such as Tesla and Chevrolet understand that “range anxiety” is the greatest hindrance to the adoption of electric vehicles. In order to meet the expectations...

Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) has released new research showing connected health device ownership (including digital fitness trackers, networked weight scales, connected treadmills, and blood pressure meters) has risen from 24% to 33% of U.S. broadband households between 2013 and 2015 The research group also notes that 13% of U.S. broadband households own two or more connected health devices.

Adoption of wearables and connected health devices is growing, evidenced by the stellar growth achieved by Fitbit in 2015, according to Harry Wang, director, Health and Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. The health and wellness industry is also speeding up its pace of innovation. For example, at the 2016 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition this week, AT&T announced partnerships with health and wearable players including Becton Dickinson, WellNest, and OneMedia.

The Internet of Things (IoT) will move toward mainstream adoption in 2016 for many industries, according to the findings of a recent survey by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). The online survey was conducted in November 2015 among Gartner Research Circle Members and included responses from 465 IT and business professionals spanning 18 business sectors in North America, EMEA, Asia/Pacific and Latin America.

Although less than a third (29%) of responding organizations are currently using IoT, an additional 14%) are planning to implement IoT in the coming 12 months, with an additional 21 %planning to implement after 2016. In other words, the number of organizations adopting IoT will grow 50% in 2016, reaching 43% of organizations overall. In aggregate, the majority of organizations (64%) plan to eventually implement IoT. However, it is also important to note that another 38% have no plans to implement IoT, including...

Medium and large enterprises in the US have mixed feelings about cloud infrastructure security, according to a new survey conducted by Clutch (clutch.co), a B2B research firm. While 22% of enterprises ranked security the number one cloud computing benefit, 31% also identified security as the most prevalent challenge.

When compared to older legacy systems, the majority of enterprises (64%) agree that cloud infrastructure is more secure. They cite cloud infrastructure's sophisticated monitoring systems, multi-layered security safeguards, and central management as the main reasons they consider it a more secure option.

"Using the Cloud is like putting your money in the bank versus under your mattress," said David Linthicum, senior vice president of Cloud Technology Partners. "Even though your money, or data, is not on-premise, the bank will do a much better job protecting it because it has vaults and security cameras – more than what a single enterprise company can do...

Toolwire, a Silicon Valley-based digital courseware developer, has released results from a group of 14 faculty who piloted the Toolwire Writing Games during the fall 2015 semester with over 1,000 students, primarily in developmental and introductory composition courses.

With faculty reporting persistent gaps between student writing abilities and the demands of college-level work, the Writing Games introduce an engaging digital courseware intervention to help students succeed in basic writing courses. The research report (http://www.toolwire.com/writinggamespilot2015/) documents faculty and student reactions based on over 530,000 minutes of student usage at institutions including several campuses within the Maricopa, Lone Star, and Colorado Community College systems as well as faculty from the California State University and City University of New York (CUNY)...

New research from the IHS research group (www.ihs.com) shows (not surprisingly) that spending on movies, TV shows declines when Netflix is available.

Before Netflix launched its streaming service in the USA in 2007, spending on buying and renting movies and TV series on disc was falling by an average of 1.2% a year. Since 2010, the year in which Netflix access became ubiquitous across the US consumer electronics sector, spending has fallen by an average of 10.3 percent a year.

“The data shows that Netflix’s entry into a market has a noticeable effect on consumer behavior, even in countries where they already had access to other streaming video services,” said Helen Davis Jayalath, senior researcher at IHS Technology. “Movies and TV shows are not only the biggest draw for Netflix subscribers, they are also the backbone of the home entertainment industry, generating 80% to 90% of the business in most countries.”

Smart home system installations nearly doubled last year as millions of early adopters purchased devices that were cloud connected, according to a recently published report by global technology research firm ON World (www.onworld.com).

Cloud platforms combined with consumer-driven wireless sensing and control standards have made this possible. This growth is coming from multiple channels and increasingly through bundled offerings by IP security, cable/MSO and telecom service providers.

"The retail channel is growing the fastest as technology-driven consumers use the Web and YouTube to configure and install devices into their smart homes," says Mareca Hatler, ON World's research director. "Our demographic research shows that millennials want smarter homes for safety and security and baby boomers want to use it for elderly care and home energy management.”

IDC (www.idc.com) has identified robotics as one of six innovation accelerators that will drive digital transformation by opening new revenue streams and changing the way work is performed.

In a new report, the research group forecasts global spending on robotics and related services to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17% from more than $71 billion in 2015 to $135.4 billion in 2019. The new spending guide measures purchases of robotic systems, system hardware, software, robotics-related services, and after-market robotics hardware on a regional level across thirteen key industries and fifty-two use cases.

"Robotics is one of the core technologies that is enabling significant change in manufacturing through factory of the future initiatives. While traditionally used in the automotive industry, there is an increasing adoption of robotics in sectors like electronics, retail, healthcare, logistics,...

Global adoption of broadband connectivity is fueling the growth of the Internet of Things (IoT); the number of broadband households will total nearly 975 million households by 2019, with over 50% in China, according to new data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com).

In North America and Western Europe, 50% of broadband households own at least one connected entertainment device, smartphone, or tablet, adds the research group. Asia-Pacific will achieve 50% adoption rates of these devices by 2018.
Connected wearable devices are predicted to reach 50% adoption among broadband households in North America by 2018 and in Western Europe by 2019.

"Consumers are embracing connected devices, and companies are looking to expand their presence in the IoT," said Stuart Sikes, president, Parks Associates. "Parks Associates' research examines the evolution of IoT and how the concept of the...

This column is being (metaphorically) penned on Leap Day, a day similar to Sadie Hawkins Day (November 13) in which historically the ladies may ask the men without violating polite norms--hardly an issue in our day, though originally somewhat sexist.

It's also sprang in the middle of the great American ask/catch--candidates trolling for primary votes, while the rest of the world watches a system seemingly self-destruct in vitriol, venom, slander, and name calling. Ahem. wasn't democracy supposed to be about the respectful examination of ideas? Alas, the Spy himself knows better, having himself attended a High School--so long ago it seems like another age--where debating was one a blood sport.

So, he knows all the tricks--ad hominem attacks, redefine the topic, use ridicule and mockery, call out grammatical and word use errors as though fatal--anything to win, because in debating, winning is everything. Truth? Are you kidding? What has truth got to do with it? You...

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has valued operator in-flight roaming revenues at nearly $3 billion by 2020, doubling the value estimated for this year. This figure includes mobile voice, data and SMS.

However, in terms of total operator billed mobile roaming revenues, in-flight roaming will only represent around 5% of revenues globally by 2020. The new research noted that these revenues will largely be driven by increasing data usage while on-board an aircraft. It argued that these would primarily stem from consumers being attracted by a combination of price reductions –the result of reduced retail roaming charges – and an increase in the availability of higher speed data services (2.5G to 3G & 4G).

Unsurprisingly, the increasing number of service introductions by airlines has translated into an increasing number of active users over the past 12 months,...

A new report from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that that almost 70% of U.S. broadband households express interest in Wi-Fi-based mobile service plans if such plans can save them money. Among those having no interest, 38% perceive that Wi-Fi connections are unsafe and their data would be vulnerable to hacking. Nearly 40% aren't interested because they are satisfied with their current mobile phone plan.

"Mobile consumers are always looking for reliable service coverage, faster data speeds, and a service plan with the best value," said Harry Wang, director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. "Wi-Fi-based mobile service plans provide consumers with alternatives to 3G/4G services, and mobile operators need to look out for disruptors."

The world Internet security market is expected to garner $46.5 billion by 2021, registering a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 8.4% from 2016 to 2021, according to Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com).

Increasing usage of Internet across every sector has increased the vulnerability of virus attacks, spams and others, which could severely impact system functionality and business operations, according to the research group. Several sectors, such as finance, infrastructure, transportation, telecommunication, and defense and research institutes, have become the prime targets of the cyber-attacks.

Internet security solutions protect computing systems to ensure flawless execution of operations and prevent damage and loss that might arise from any kind of cyber-attack. The Research and Markets report presents a detailed view on the world Internet security market. The market...

Worldwide IT spending is expected to post a major slowdown in 2016, as economic weakness in emerging markets and saturation of the smartphone market combine to result in a significantly slower pace of tech spending growth compared to the past six years, according to the IDC research group (www.idc.com).

Having posted annual growth of 5-6% in constant currency terms since recovery from the financial crisis in 2010, the global IT market is expected to increase by just 2% this year (in constant currency). Total IT spending on hardware, software and services will reach $2.3 trillion in 2016. Including telecom services, total ICT spending will increase by 2% to $3.8 trillion, according to the latest data from IDC.

IT spending was relatively stable in 2015, in spite of the volatile economy, propelled by another strong year for smartphone shipments, which compensated for a weakening PC market throughout the year....

Canalys’ (www.canalys.co) recently published country-level forecasts predict that over 1.5 billion smart phones will ship in 2016. Despite turbulence for certain vendors and countries, the industry will still grow by over 10% this year thanks to new opportunities. The research group estimates total worldwide mobile phone shipments of just under two billion units with the smart phone share at 77%.

Industry growth is decelerating, making it a much tougher environment for vendors. In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2015 in Asia Pacific, the total mobile phone market shrunk annually for the first time ever, with shipments decreasing by 2% to reach a total of 263 million units. In China, total mobile phone shipments reached 117 million units, with year-on-year growth of 3% in Q4 2015. Smart phones grew 5% annually as vendors such as Xiaomi and Huawei released new devices. Smart phone shipment growth in Asia also came from...

NowSecure (www.nowsecure.com), which specializes in mobile-focused security solutions, has revealed the results of its highly anticipated 2016 NowSecure Mobile Security Report – offering a detailed look into the current state of mobile security.

Statistics from the report included that a quarter of all mobile apps have at least one high risk security flaw, 35% of communications sent by mobile devices are unencrypted, and the average mobile device connects to 160 unique servers each day.

The report featured findings from five popular app categories: Business, Finance, Games, Shopping, and Social. NowSecure found that Business apps are three times more likely to leak login credentials than the average app, while Game apps are one-and-a-half times more likely to include a high-risk vulnerability than the average app.

“Leaky apps are the number one security problem facing mobile users today. They...

Cloud spending represents about 8.5% of all IT spending by the federal government for fiscal year 2016 (FY16), according to a new report from IDC Government Insights (www.idc.com). That represents a significant increase from the roughly 5% dedicated to cloud in fiscal year 2015 (FY15).

In a new report, “Federal Cloud Growth Is Substantial Through 2019, But Provider Landscape Is in Flux,” author Shawn P. McCarthy examines the impact of ongoing efforts by the U.S. Federal CIO Council and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to get government agencies to move some types of IT systems to the cloud — particularly new systems, stored data, and mobile solutions — as the use of cloud-based solutions continues to grow in the U.S. federal government.

According to the report, federal cloud spending for FY15 actually came in at more than double what the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) originally predicted when the...

New consumer research from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that in the next 12 months, over 40% of U.K. broadband consumers are likely to adopt new connected devices, including smart door locks, sensors, and security cameras, as part of a home security or control system that can be monitored or controlled by a smartphone, tablet, or computer.

The research firm’s report also found that ownership of home control systems is 10% of broadband households in France and Spain, 8% in Germany, and 11% in the U.K.

"Consumer intention to purchase devices and integrate them into home systems continues to be a growing trend across Western Europe," said Jason Paris, director, Business Development, Parks Associates. "Mass-market smart home products and services are now available through numerous channels, including security dealers, telecoms, and retail stores, and both mass-market and...

Juniper Research (www.juniperrsearch.com) has revealed the top technologies that it believes will do the most to transform e-commerce this year. Leading the list are biometrics, federated identify, and tokenization.

The research group concludes that the technology making the biggest difference to “payment completion” today is biometrics, largely thanks to the proliferation of fingerprint readers in smartphones due to the use of biometric authentication in both Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. Juniper argues that use cases and deployments will proliferate in the short and medium term.

Behind biometrics is federated ID, which provides merchants with the ability to gather information on customers in a click – rather than asking them to fill out long forms. Juniper observed that Facebook, Google and LinkedIn dominate this area at present, but expects new entrants such as banks, telcos and even...

A new study by Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) found that more than three billion loyalty cards will operate as mobile-only or be integrated into mobile apps by 2020, up from 1.4 billion last year.

The new research found that brands and retailers are increasingly responding to consumer demand for mobile integration, with many now offering customers the opportunity to store their loyalty cards within a dedicated digital wallet. Crucially, the research argued that the improved targeting and personalization made possible by digital coupons was leading to greater activity rates, thereby resolving a key failing of traditional schemes where the lack of relevant offers had resulted in a downturn in usage.

However, the data from Juniper Research found wide variations among retailers and other reward card providers with regard to the extent of digital loyalty integration. In the UK, the...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows 35% of U.S. broadband households would participate in an energy program advertised by a security provider. Consumers are 40% more likely to participate in an energy program if it is offered by a security provider than an energy provider.

"Security providers have an opportunity to capitalize on their strong connections with their consumers by expanding into energy management programs," Tom Kerber, Parks Associates’s director of research, Energy and Home Controls, said. "They can also leverage their strong reputation with consumers to forge beneficial partnerships with utilities that want to leverage connected devices in the home."

A new report by Allied Market Research (www.alliedmarketresearch.com) says the world Internet security market is expected to garner $46.5 billion by 2021, registering a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 8.4% from 2016 to 2021.

The market is driven by the huge demand for Internet security software solutions due to the increasing number of cyber-attacks and the adoption of cloud-based Internet security systems, according to the research firm. Increasing use of Internet-based applications across various sectors, such as education, government, retail, IT & telecommunications, BFSI and others, make them prone to virus and spam attacks.

According to McAfee, in 2014, cybercrimes, such as unethical hacking, botnets, distributed denial of services (DDoS), malware, spyware, spams, viruses, and other threats, caused a loss of $400 billion, worldwide. Increasing incidence of security...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) reveals that 19% of U.S. broadband households currently own at least one Internet-connected smart home device.

These devices, including smart thermostats, sprinkler systems, door locks, and security cameras, offer remote control, monitoring, or notifications via a smartphone, tablet, or computer. Upwards of 90% of device owners use mobile apps to access cloud-supported services associated with their devices, according to the research group.

"IoT cloud platforms offer device makers and companies the opportunity to greatly expand the value of a product or service, and consumers are responding," said Brad Russell, research analyst, Parks Associates. "Cloud-based services also create unique new service partnerships, such as the automated guest-entry system in the RemoteLock from smart door lock maker LockState. This solution will be...

Retailers are failing to meet consumer demand for increased convenience while shopping with mobile devices, according to new research from Accenture, which conducted two pieces of research: the Accenture Adaptive Retail report, which surveyed more than 10,000 consumers across 13 countries; and a separate benchmarking study that evaluated a global sample of 162 retailers in 10 countries across multiple industries.

Taken together, the research findings highlight the need for retailers to become more adaptive in order to embrace and achieve the connected and integrated shopping experience that consumers seek. The consumer survey found that the number of consumers shopping “on the go,” with mobile devices, grew 10% in the past year, from 36% of consumers in 2014 to 40% in 2015.

Not surprisingly, the number of shoppers who want more retail services via mobile devices, particularly real-time in-store promotions, also grew this past year, to 47%, up from 40% in last year’s...

Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com) forecasts that 274.6 million wearable electronic devices will be sold worldwide in 2016, an increase of 18.4% from 232.0 million units in 2015.

Sales of wearable electronic devices will generate revenue of $28.7 billion in 2016. Of that, $11.5 billion will be from smartwatches.

"From 2015 through 2017, smartwatch adoption will have 48 percent growth largely due to Apple popularizing wearables as a lifestyle trend. Smartwatches have the greatest revenue potential among all wearables through 2019, reaching $17.5 billion," said Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner. "Though the sales of smartwatches are the one of the strongest types of wearables, their adoption will remain much below sales of smartphones. For example, in 2016 more than 374 million smartphones will sell in mature market countries and in large urban areas of emerging market countries, for example, in Hong...

A new report from IDC (www.idc.com) examining the results of the “2015–2016 Healthcare Provider Technology Spend Survey” reveals that while 40% of providers reported their IT budgets are still growing, only 25% of providers with growing budgets attribute the growth to electronic health records (EHR), providing evidence that the post-EHR era is upon us as providers turn to optimizing the business for accountable care, adding analytics and care management, and away from massive enterprise EHR projects.

The new survey specifically examines technology spending and planned technology spending by U.S. acute care hospitals with more than 200 beds. The results indicate that we are at the beginning of the post-EHR/post–meaningful use era in healthcare IT. The hospitals responding to the survey overwhelmingly reported confidence in their ability to manage meaningful use. Hospitals were somewhat less confident in their ability to...

The cloud email market is still in the early stages of adoption with 13% of identified publicly listed companies globally using one of the two main cloud email vendors, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

A recent study by the research group found that 8.5 percent of public companies in the sample use cloud email from Microsoft's Office 365 service, while 4.7% use Google Apps for Work. The remaining 87% of companies surveyed have on-premises, hybrid, hosted or private cloud email managed by smaller vendors.

These are the findings of a Gartner research study based on an automated examination of a large number of publicly available email routing records. The research group used the email server addresses in the domain records of nearly 40,000 public companies globally, to find out which ones point to cloud email services from Google or Microsoft.

The global connected device market is set to reach $6.2 million by 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate of over 10%, according to new data from the Technavio (www.technavio.com) research group.

In 2015, the Americas was the largest market for connected devices, accounting for almost 46% of the overall market share. Technavio’s report states that rapid advances in technology and changing consumer preferences regarding the use of electronic devices are the main factors contributing to market growth in this region.
The US accounts for the majority of the connected devices market in the Americas.

This growth is attributed to the implementation of the Green Buildings Act. This act covers the public, private, and non-profit sectors and aims to increase the energy efficiency and sustainability of buildings. The use of connected devices has reduced annual energy consumption in many countries....

A new study from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) predicts that at least one in three home routers will be used as public Wi-Fi hotspots by 2017, and that the total installed base of such dual-use routers will reach 366 million globally by the end of 2020.

The new research notes that these so-called “homespot" routers essentially create two wireless networks separated by a firewall: one network is for private use while the other is offered as a public Wi-Fi hotspot by the broadband operators. Major broadband operators such as BT, UPC and Virgin Media in Europe and several of the biggest cable TV operators in the US such as Comcast and Cablevision have adopted the homespot model as a low-cost way of rapidly expanding their domestic Wi-Fi coverage.

The research pointed out that the rapid expansion of Wi-Fi in this way is also giving rise to a number of global Wi-Fi aggregators such as...

New data from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) shows that fitness wearables will remain the primary wearable device, with smartwatches being less commonly used for the next three years.

However, fitness wearables are expected to be used by approximately 110 million people worldwide at the end of 2019, while smartwatches will have more than 130 million users, according to the research group. Juniper Research observed that the lines between the categories are starting to blur, with fitness wearables offering a range of call-handling and notification functions that can also be found in smartwatches. The existence of app-enabled fitness trackers, such as the Samsung Gear Fit and Microsoft Band, lessens the distinction even further.

A recent Juniper Research survey also found that fitness devices are the most popular wearables because they are both cheaper and have a more obvious use...

Why is it that supposedly hard-headed evidence-based fact-found business and IT decision makers seem so driven instead by emotional and personal considerations?

Take the stock market, for instance. The one predictable thing about it is that it always overreacts, whether on the up or down side. Never has this been more apparent than lately, where every titbit of "news" sends it on a wild gyration, up several hundred points one day, down likewise the next, with no time or effort spared for considered analysis of said reports (calling them "information" is too generous, given the lack of intentional processing).

Speculative psychology is the driver, not investment analytics, and this is true whether short or longer term swings are the grist in the mill for speculative profits. Day traders try to make money in the moment, predators buy enough stock to force their views on the board, usually with a view to selling off profitable...

According to new data from International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide spending on public cloud services will grow at a 19.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) -- almost six times the rate of overall IT spending growth – from nearly $70 billion in 2015 to more than $141 billion in 2019.

The new spending guide expands on IDC's (www.idc.com) previous public cloud services forecasts by offering greater detail on industry and geographic spending levels. Software as a Service (SaaS) will remain the dominant cloud computing type, capturing more than two thirds of all public cloud spending through most of the forecast period. Worldwide spending on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) will grow at a faster rate than SaaS with five-year CAGRs of 27.0% and 30.6%, respectively.

"Over the past several years, the software industry has been shifting to a cloud-first (SaaS) development and...

Worldwide combined shipments of devices (PCs, tablets, ultramobiles and mobile phones) are expected to reach 2.4 billion units in 2016 , a 1.9 percent increase from 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). End-user spending in constant U.S. dollars is expected to decline 0.5 percent for the first time.

The device market in 2016 will continue to be impacted by country-level economic conditions. “It’s clear that vendors can no longer market their products with the mind of only targeting the mature and emerging markets," said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. "Driven by economic variations the market is splitting into four categories: economically challenged mature markets, economically stable mature markets and the same for emerging markets. Russia and Brazil will fall into the category of economically challenged emerging markets while India will be stable, and Japan will belong to the...

The Smart Home ecosystem comprises both hardware devices and software apps and together they are supposed to make an efficient system for consumers.

A new report from Argus Insights shows that consumers are overall more frustrated with the applications that dictate, schedule and manage each device than with the actual devices themselves. Past Argus Insights reports looked at the hardware component and the challenges and irritations customers were experiencing with installation and connectivity, but this new analysis introduces a new data set to uncover the fact that consumers are experiencing even more issues with the apps that run these devices.

According to data compiled from nearly 50,000 Smart Home device and app reviews from August 2015 to the present, the incumbent home security companies like ADT, Comcast and AT&T are failing to delight consumers with their apps while the more innovative and newer Smart Home-focused companies like Vivint and Honeywell...

According to a new report by Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com), shipments of connected wearables reached 72.5 million in 2015, up from 25.3 million devices in the previous year. Growing at a compound annual growth rate of 25.8%, total shipments of smartwatches, smart glasses, fitness & activity trackers, people monitoring and safety devices and medical devices as well as other wearable devices are forecasted to reach 228.3 million units in 2020.

Bluetooth will remain the primary connectivity option in the coming years. A total of 17.8 million of the wearables sold in 2020 are forecasted to incorporate embedded cellular connectivity, mainly in the smartwatch and people monitoring and safety categories. Apple entered the connected wearables market in the second quarter (Q2) of 2015 and quickly became the leading smartwatch vendor.

Gartner Inc. (www.gartner.com) forecasts that worldwide IT spending will total $3.54 trillion dollars in 2016, just a 0.6% increase over 2015 spending of $3.52 trillion dollars.

2015 saw the largest U.S. dollar drop in IT spending since the research group began tracking IT spending. $216 billion dollars less was spent on IT in 2015 than in 2014 and 2014 spending levels won’t be surpassed until 2019.

"The rising U.S. dollar is the villain behind 2015 results," said John-David Lovelock, research vice president at Gartner. "U.S. multinationals' revenue faced currency headwinds in 2015. However, in 2016 those headwinds go away and they can expect an additional 5 percent growth.”

Gartner forecasts that the devices market (PCs, ultramobiles, mobile phones, tablets and printers) will decline 1.9% in 2016. The combination of economic conditions preventing countries such as Russia, Japan and Brazil from...

According to the IDC research group (www.idc.com), vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products (server, storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud IT, including public and private cloud, grew by 23.0% year over year to $7.6 billion in the third quarter of 2015 (3Q15).

The overall share of cloud IT infrastructure sales climbed to 33.8% in 3Q15, up from 28.7% a year ago. Revenue from infrastructure sales to private cloud grew by 18.8% to $2.9 billion, and to public cloud by 25.9% to $4.6 billion. In comparison, revenue in the traditional (non-cloud) IT infrastructure segment decreased by -3.2% year over year in the third quarter, with declines in all three technology segments (server, storage and Ethernet switch).

All three technology markets showed strong year-over-year growth in both private and public cloud segments, with server experiencing the highest growth in private cloud at 24.3% and Ethernet switch...

At CES 2016, IEEE (http://www.ieee.org) , the world's largest professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for humanity, conducted a survey that asked booth visitors to answer a range of questions regarding the future of AR/VR [augmented reality/virtual reality] technology. 1,537 participants took the survey.

According to the findings, the use of VR headsets might not have the staying power that is predicted with this new, emerging technology. When questioned about the year AR/VR technology will advance to the point where immersive headsets will no longer be required, more than half (52%) of respondents believed this will occur in well under two decades, by 2030. On top of the 52%, another 21% of respondents predicted this to be a reality by 2035, 15% by 2040 and 5% by 2045.

When asked which industry would most benefit from the widespread adoption of AR/VR technology, 36% of participants...

Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) has released new research reporting that 70% of U.S. security dealers currently install or plan to install some type of interactive smart home device or system within their residential offerings in the next 12 months. Nearly three-quarters of security dealers offer interactivity with their devices, which can be controlled through smartphones, tablets, and computers.

"Smart home features are helping security dealers increase monthly revenues and also attract new customers," said Barbara Kraus, director of Research, Parks Associates. "Benefits from smart home features increase interest among homeowners who were not interested in monitored security systems. The sales model for security dealers, which involves one-on-one interaction with the customer, is particularly effective in communicating the benefits of smart home solutions.

ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) predicts 156 million tablets will ship in 2020, marking a 3% CAGR [compound annual return rate] for the device category between 2015 and 2020.

This is despite the fact that tablet forecasts were revised downward in response to continued pressure on shipments and revenues by Apple, Samsung and other leading vendors. According to the latest research, branded tablet revenues reached approximately $55 billion in 2015, down from $68 billion in 2014. While revenues are expected to remain flat in 2016, ABI Research projects last year's retail ASPs [average selling prices] to drop below $400 for the first time.

"We expect the global installed base to decline primarily due to older devices in most developed market economies aging out faster after purchase than replacement devices being acquired and new products being shipped into emerging market economies," says Jeff Orr,...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that more than 70% of U.S. smartphone users watch at least one short streaming video clip every day.

Parks Associates' survey shows consumers are embracing many new use cases as their smartphones become more intelligent and multifunctional. Voice calls and texting are still the dominant activities, but 80% of smartphone owners use social networking apps at least once a day and 35% spend an hour or more on this activity.

"Consumer appetite for mobile data is very strong, but currently most subscribers use less than half of their allotted data, while those with high data plans use even less," said Harry Wang, director, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. "For mobile operators, pushing consumers to sign up for a bigger data plan will have its limits. More and more consumers will start to compare payment to data...

According to PwC's Global State of Information Security (GSISS) Survey 2016 (www.pwc.com/ca/gsiss), Canadian companies are taking steps towards establishing holistic, integrated safeguards against cyberattacks. While investment in safeguards against cybersecurity threats have increased by 82% year over year, it still accounts for an average of only 5% of overall IT (Information Technology) spending.

Because of the impact cybersecurity attacks can have on the overall health of a company and a brand, boards are playing an increasingly significant role in informing the development of cybersecurity strategies. In fact, this year's report found that 50% of Canadian companies surveyed indicated that their board participates in defining their organization's security budgets, compared to only 25% in 2014.

As part of an expanding digital service offering PwC Canada is launching, Game of Threats, a digital...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) reveals that 33% of U.K. broadband households subscribed to an OTT [over-the-top] video service as of the third quarter of 2015. The same study shows that only 15% of U.K. households with pay TV subscribe to premium movie channels.

"Overall OTT video usage in the U.K. favors broadcasters," said Brett Sappington, Director, Research, Parks Associates. "The most popular OTT video sources in the U.K. include BBC's iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD (now All4), and Demand5 - all catch-up or on-demand offerings from broadcasters. New OTT video market entrants, especially those with paid services, will have to provide unique value in order to make substantial gains. However, the demand for interesting content is strong enough that there are market opportunities for new OTT video players. Nearly 20% of U.K. broadband households have recently used a Netflix...

New research from Accenture (www.accenture.com) has found that only 2 percent of patients in the largest U.S. hospitals are using hospital-provided mobile health apps. Accenture estimates that failure to align mobile apps to the services consumers’ demand could cost each of these hospitals, on average, more than $100 million in lost annual revenue.

The research, which assessed mobile app use among the 100 largest U.S. hospitals, found that two-thirds (66 percent) of the 100 largest U.S. hospitals have mobile apps for consumers and roughly two-fifths (38 percent) of that subset have developed proprietary apps for their patients. However, only 11 percent of health systems offer patients proprietary apps that operate with at least one of the three functions that consumers demand most: access to medical records; the ability to book, change and cancel appointments; and the ability to request prescription refills...

New data from Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) shows that 25 percent of OTT (over-the-top) OTT video subscribers in U.S. broadband households plan to upgrade their broadband service in the next 12 months.

Only seven percent of consumers who watch video exclusively on television plan to upgrade their pay-TV service in the next 12 months. This compares to 22 percent of consumers with above-average viewing on all platforms, including computers and mobile devices.

"Evolving usage habits around multiscreen viewing are shaping all aspects of the industry, including service delivery, content production, and the devices consumers use to access content," said Brett Sappington, director of Research, Parks Associates. "Today, one-third of broadband households that own three or more connected devices state that they are likely to upgrade their broadband service in the next 12 months. These...

DMI (Digital Management Inc.), an end-to-end mobility company, has released its annual Top Ten Mobility Trends for 2016 (http://tinyurl.com/zj9ztqe), citing the need for an improved mobile customer experience, top-down concerns for cybersecurity, key innovations through partnerships and a stronger focus on the redesign and implementation of omni-channel and mobile payment technologies. among the projected trends:

° Stronger focus on the customer experience: Analyst firms Forrester and Gartner highlighted the customer experience (CX) as a top priority for 2016. Based on DMI's experience, the average organization has less than one in 100 employees with the CX skills needed to amplify the mobile experience, whether in-store or on the Internet. In 2016, customers will demand one consistent cross-channel experience. Look for organizations to embed the mobile customer experience throughout every part of...

With the new year here, there will be some extraordinary shifts in how people watch their favorite TV programs, how they surf the Internet and how our daily gadgets will become more interconnected. While our lives are becoming easier, the new technology shift requires an increasing sensitivity towards online security.

NordVPN (www.nordvpn.com), a VPN service provider, predicts some of the major shifts and trends in digital and online security world in 2016:

° Streaming over downloading. There will be more streaming options in 2016 and better access to content compared to downloading options that are becoming less popular. Streaming is becoming border-free as well, as there are new ways to overcome geographical restrictions.

SmartPlay, for example, is NordVPN’s new secure technology that helps overcome geo-based restrictions used by certain streaming websites, such as Netflix, Pandora,...

According to IDC (www.idc.com), 3D printer shipments in the China market passed 34,000 units in 2014, and is expected to reach 77,000 units in 2015, exhibiting a growth rate over 120%.

This growth rate is largely driven by sales of desktop 3D printers priced under US$5,000. As the Chinese Government continue to promote 3D printer awareness and usage within schools and educational institutions, the desktop 3D printer market is expected to maintain an annual growth trend in the coming years, according to the research group.

“China's local 3D printer market will surpass the US market in 2016 with an annual growth rate over 100%. However, the US is expected to retain its position as the market leader in terms of market revenue, due to the greater proportion of high-end printers adopted by the manufacturing sector,” said Wendy Mok, Research Manager for IDPS at IDC China. “To capitalize on this growth, 3D printer vendors...

Driven by continued innovation in vehicle connectivity and safety technologies, global revenue from automotive display systems will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 11 percent to $18.6 billion by the end of 2021. This will add nearly $9 billion in annual revenue compared to 2015, according to IHS (www.ihs.com).

Data from the the research group represents production of instrument cluster systems, head-up display systems and center stack display systems as full automotive modules, not just display panels. Center stack display systems are expected to account for half of the overall revenue growth, while head-up display (HUD) systems will boast the strongest revenue CAGR at nearly 21 percent from 2015.

“The automotive displays supply chain will see some amazing growth and innovation through the end of the decade, as more vehicles debut new displays or standardize larger ones in the instrument...

Software Updates via MacUpdate

SpamSieve 2.9.27 - Robust spam filter fo...

SpamSieve is a robust spam filter for major email clients that uses powerful Bayesian spam filtering.
SpamSieve understands what your spam looks like in order to block it all, but also learns what... Read more

VueScan 9.5.62 - Scanner software with a...

VueScan is a scanning program that works with most high-quality flatbed and film scanners to produce scans that have excellent color fidelity and color balance. VueScan is easy to use, and has... Read more

Fantastical 2.3.2 - Create calendar even...

Fantastical 2 is the Mac calendar you'll actually enjoy using. Creating an event with Fantastical is quick, easy, and fun:
Open Fantastical with a single click or keystroke
Type in your event... Read more

PCalc 4.4.4 - Full-featured scientific c...

PCalc is a full-featured, scriptable scientific calculator with support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations, as well as an RPN mode, programmable functions, and an extensive set of unit... Read more

Alfred 3.2.1 - Quick launcher for apps a...

Alfred is an award-winning productivity application for OS X. Alfred saves you time when you search for files online or on your Mac. Be more productive with hotkeys, keywords, and file actions at... Read more

OmniPlan 3.6 - Robust project management...

With OmniPlan, you can create logical, manageable project plans with Gantt charts, schedules, summaries, milestones, and critical paths. Break down the tasks needed to make your project a success,... Read more

Backblaze 4.2.0.990 - Online backup serv...

Backblaze is an online backup service designed from the ground-up for the Mac. With unlimited storage available for $5 per month, as well as a free 15-day trial, peace of mind is within reach with... Read more

AppDelete 4.3.1 - $7.99

AppDelete is an uninstaller that will remove not only applications but also widgets, preference panes, plugins, and screensavers along with their associated files. Without AppDelete these associated... Read more

Apple GarageBand 10.1.4 - Complete recor...

The new GarageBand is a whole music creation studio right inside your Mac -- complete with keyboard, synths, orchestral and percussion instruments, presets for guitar and voice, an entirely... Read more

Adobe Lightroom 6.8 - Import, develop, a...

Adobe Lightroom is available as part of Adobe Creative Cloud for as little as $9.99/month bundled with Photoshop CC as part of the photography package. Lightroom 6 is also available for purchase as a... Read more

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The best apps for your holiday gift exch...

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MyTona, based in the chilly Siberian city of Yakutsk, has brought a little festive fun to its hidden object game Seekers Notes: Hidden Mystery. The Christmas update introduces some new inhabitants to players, and with them a chance to win plenty of... | Read more »

PINE GROVE 1.0
Device: iOS Universal
Category: Games
Price: $1.99, Version: 1.0 (iTunes)
Description:
A pine grove where there are no footsteps of people due to continuous missing cases. The case is still unsolved and nothing has... | Read more »

Niantic teases new Pokémon announcement...

After rumors started swirling yesterday, it turns out there is an official Pokémon GO update on its way. We’ll find out what’s in store for us and our growing Pokémon collections tomorrow during the Starbucks event, but Niantic will be revealing... | Read more »

3 reasons why Nicki Minaj: The Empire is...

Nicki Minaj is as business-savvy as she is musically talented and she’s proved that by launching her own game. Designed by Glu, purveyors of other fine celebrity games like cult favorite Kim Kardashian: Hollywood, Nicki Minaj: The Empire launched... | Read more »

Clash of Clans is getting its own animat...

Riding on its unending wave of fame and success, Clash of Clans is getting an animated web series based on its Clash-A-Rama animated shorts.As opposed to the current shorts' 60 second run time, the new and improved Clash-A-Rama will be comprised of... | Read more »

Leaks hint at Pokémon GO and Starbucks C...

Leaked images from a hub for Starbucks employees suggests that a big Pokémon GO event with the coffee giant could begin this very week. The images appeared on Reddit and hint at some exciting new things to come for Niantic's smash hit game.
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DietSensor, Inc., a developer of smart food and nutrition applications designed to fight diabetes and obesity and help improve overall fitness, has announced the launch of its DietSensor app for... Read more

Best Buy has dropped their price on the 64GB Apple TV to $159.99 including free shipping. That’s $40 off MSRP.
32GB Apple TVs are on sale right now for $98 on Sams Club’s online store. That’s $51 off... Read more

12-inch Retina MacBooks, Apple refurbished, n...

Apple has restocked a full line of Certified Refurbished 2016 12″ Retina MacBooks, now available for $200-$260 off MSRP. Refurbished 2015 models are available starting at $929. Apple will include a... Read more

Apple has Certified Refurbished 13″ MacBook Airs available starting at $849. An Apple one-year warranty is included with each MacBook, and shipping is free:
- 13″ 1.6GHz/8GB/128GB MacBook Air: $849 $... Read more

Apple refurbished iMacs available for up to $...

Apple has Certified Refurbished 2015 21″ & 27″ iMacs available for up to $350 off MSRP. Apple’s one-year warranty is standard, and shipping is free. The following models are available:
- 21″ 3.... Read more

Apple’s Education discount saves up to $300 o...

Purchase a new Mac or iPad using Apple’s Education Store and take up to $300 off MSRP. All teachers, students, and staff of any educational institution qualify for the discount. Shipping is free:
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